The US has once again extended a waiver allowing Iraq to import Iranian electricity and natural gas, but at the same time intensified its sanctions against Iran despite the coronavirus pandemic which is infecting more and more Iranians. Morgan Ortagus, a US State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement on Thursday that "Iraq is permitted to engage in financial transactions related to the import of electricity from Iran" under a US-issued sanctions waiver. -Press TV 3/27/20

In my 15 years as an advocate for the rights of the people of Iran, I have never been more concerned for the lives of so many people. Iran's 85 million people are dying from the coronavirus at a rate some officials say is as often as 1 every 10 minutes. In the worst-case scenario, 3.5 million people could die, according to a study from Iran's prestigious Sharif University. -Hadi Ghaemi, CHRI 3/27/20

"Other countries have only one problem, which is the new coronavirus pandemic. But we are fighting on two fronts here," said Dr. Hossein Hassanian, an adviser to Iran's Health Ministry who gave the higher figures to the AP. "We have to both cure the people with alcohol poisoning and also fight the coronavirus." -AP 3/27/20

Stepping up its fight against the new coronavirus outbreak, Iran has begun banning people from leaving their cities and requiring those who are already on Persian New Year trips to return to their hometowns at the earliest opportunity. Iran has announced 157 new deaths from the coronavirus, raising the official toll to 2,234, as a ban on intercity travel came into effect amid fears of a second wave of infections in one of the world's worst-hit countries 3/26/20

Amid a worldwide outcry against the United States' illegal and unilateral sanctions imposed on Iran, a popular campaign has been launched to pressure Washington into temporarily lifting the sanctions that are obstructing the Iranian people's efforts to curtail the deadly coronavirus outbreak. The '80 hours for 80 million campaign' has been launched on the New/Mode advocacy platform to promote this cause. 3/26/20

Saadi Shirazi, one of the prominent Iranian poets of the medieval period, once wrote, "Extending a hand in the hour of need is the mark of a true friend." Iran is struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic and economic sanctions simultaneously, and all its friends are in trouble. Then who can help? Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a tweet on March 22, called on the United States to temporary lift sanctions on Iran "till the COVID-19 pandemic is over." -Fatemeh Aman, Responsible Statecraft 3/26/20

Nine members of Congress have signed on to a letter asking the Trump administration to suspend U.S. sanctions on Iran amid the COVID-19 crisis. The letter comes amidst a wider effort by activists to raise awareness of the issue and pressure the Treasury Department to take immediate action. 3/26/20

A group of Iranian academics and management experts have raised concerns over the widespread outbreak of a new coronavirus in the country, presenting the government with a list of emergency preventive measures that could be taken to stop further spread of the disease. In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, a number of university lecturers in the field of management studies as well as members of Iran's Management Association underlined the need for urgent and decisive preventive measures to curb the virus called COVID-19. -Press TV 3/26/20

Stepping up its fight against the new coronavirus outbreak, Iran has begun banning people from leaving their cities and requiring those who are already on Persian New Year trips to return to their hometowns at the earliest opportunity. Presenting its daily COVID-19 update on Wednesday, the Iranian Health Ministry said the number of deaths had increased by 143 to 2,077 since Tuesday. 3/25/20

As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday called for an easing of sanctions against countries such as Iran to allow their medical systems to fight the disease and limit its global spread. Michelle Bachelet said humanitarian exemptions to sanctions measures should be authorized for essential medical equipment and supplies to avoid the collapse of any national healthcare system. 3/25/20

There are increased calls for the United States to suspend economic sanctions against Iran, which some believe hamper Tehran's ability to contain the deadly outbreak of coronavirus that has officially killed nearly 2,000 people. The United States has offered to help Iran but has shown no desire to ease crippling sanctions reimposed on Tehran shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump exited the 2015 landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May 2018. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL 3/25/20

Bobby Naderi is a journalist and current affairs commentator based in Iran. In this video, he shares his personal experience and observations during the COVID-19 outbreak in Iran, and calls on the U.S. to lift sanctions to soften the suffering of Iranians. -CGTN 3/25/20

President Hassan Rohani claimed on Tuedsay that the number of patients and deaths related to coronavirus is decreasing and this is promising. Speaking at a meeting of the National Task Force for Combating Coronavirus, the president said the number of the coronavirus-related patients being admitted at hospitals in different provinces is declining and the death toll is also slowing. 3/24/20

The toll of the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq, which killed as many as one million people in the 1980s, is feared to pale in comparison to that of the coronavirus epidemic: Iranian researchers have estimated that the outbreak, which has already killed more than 1,500 people in the country, will peak around late May and could result in 3.5 million deaths. -Narges Bajoghli and Mahsa Rouhi, New York Times 3/24/20

Last week, over 25 groups called on the Trump administration to end its sanctions on Iran amid the COVID-19 crisis. The virus has been particularly calamitous for Iran: at the time this piece was written the country had 21,638 confirmed cases and 1,685 people had been killed by it. U.S. sanctions have no doubt worsened the situation, as they've weakened Iran's economy and thus made it more difficult to secure goods. 3/24/20

Iran has again rejected the United States' offer of humanitarian assistance, with President Hassan Rohani saying that Washington should lift sanctions if it wants to help Tehran fight the coronavirus outbreak. "American leaders are lying.... If they want to help Iran, all they need to do is to lift sanctions.... Then we can deal with the coronavirus outbreak," Rohani said in a televised speech on March 23. 3/23/20

As the world grapples with shortages of the medical equipment needed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission has announced a new regulation that will establish export controls for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), a category of goods that includes the face shields, gloves, masks, and other protective gear that help medical professionals limit their exposure to bacteria and viruses. -Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, Bourse & Bazaar 3/23/20

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has sent a 50-bed inflatable hospital and an emergency team to Isfahan, in central Iran, to treat patients critically ill with coronavirus disease COVID-19. The inflatable hospital has been shipped by air from MSF's logistics hub in Bordeaux, France and is to be set up in the compound of Amin hospital in Isfahan. The unit is equipped to treat critically ill patients requiring constant medical supervision and care. 3/23/20

As Iran celebrates its new year, black death banner announcements hang from Tehran's eerily deserted squares. The virus has ravaged its way across the country in recent weeks, reportedly killing 1,135 and infecting more than 17,000 (many believe these figures underestimate the scale), making Iran one of the most impacted countries in the world, alongside Italy and China. The contagion has unfolded against the backdrop of an economic crisis that has made Iranians uniquely vulnerable. -Azadeh Moaveni and Sussan Tahmasebi, Guardian 3/23/20

A group of Iranian artists engaged in various fields have written a letter to their colleagues in the foreign countries to raise awareness about the urgent need for collective action against the coronavirus epidemic and call for action against the US sanctions that have impeded Iran's battle with COVID-19. -IFP 3/23/20

In messages marking the Persian New Year that falls amid a deadly coronavirus outbreak, Iran's supreme leader and president both acknowledged that the past year had been difficult. In his televised address on March 2, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the country's citizens have made "exemplary" sacrifices in the battle against the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has infected 19,644 people and killed 1,433 in Iran as of March 20 -- making it one of the worst-affected countries in the world. 3/20/20

Facing one of the world's worst outbreaks of coronavirus, Iranians in local communities are coming together to help those affected as the country battles a disease that has claimed the lives of nearly 1,300 people and infected more than 18,000 across the country, according to official figures on March 19. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL 3/20/20

I HEAD OUT to take pictures of the coronavirus crisis in Tehran. In Iran we are used to crises and we adjust quickly to new realities. I put on latex gloves, place a mask over my mouth and nose, and pack a sterilizer in my camera bag. The new normal. Streets that would normally be bustling with people and cars are deserted. I try to breathe through my mask. It's suffocating. I feel as if I've stepped into some dystopian future. -Newsha Tavakolian, National Geographic 3/20/20

As Iran confronts a crisis that could kill millions of its citizens, much of the rest of the world, except for the United States, is coming to its aid. China, the original source of the novel coronavirus, has sent medical experts and planeloads of supplies to Iran, the third most affected country after China and Italy. Iran's neighbors, and sometime rivals, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, have also provided cash and goods, setting aside their other differences with the Islamic Republic. Britain, France, and Germany, the so-called E3, stepped forward, pledging $5.6 million... And what of the world's greatest power? -Barbara Slavin, Responsible Statecraft 3/20/20

Iran has been hit hard by the novel coronavirus, and things may get far worse... Under current circumstances, the researchers said, infections would not peak until late May. The death toll could be as high as 3.5 million. That figure might seem enough to stop anyone in their tracks. But this week, the United States announced that it would be expanding its sanctions on Iran, as well as on entities that aided the Iranian government in its trade in petrochemicals and other restricted activities. It's a strategy that worries allies and enemies alike. -Adam Taylor , Washington Post 3/20/20

With 149 new deaths in the past 24 hours, Iran's death toll from coronavirus (COVID-19) rose to 1,284 on Thursday. According to the latest official announcement by the Health Ministry, there are now 18,407 cases of confirmed coronavirus infection in the Islamic Republic. The new numbers were announced by Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi. According to him a total of 5,979 have recovered from the illness since February 19 when the first two deaths from coronavirus were reported in Qom, a central Iranian city. 3/19/20

Nowruz, or "new day" in Persian, is an ancient celebration and the most important date in the calendar, when families gather and exchange gifts. But the coronavirus has overshadowed preparations this year in a country severely hit by the outbreak. There have been 1,284 deaths and 18,407 confirmed cases in Iran so far, overloading hospitals and upending everyday life. -Parisa Hafezi, Reuters 3/19/20

There is a growing consensus that - to prevent Iran from spiraling out of control from the coronavirus epidemic and causing untold harm to the Iranian people - the Trump administration must immediately relent in its use of sanctions and allow Iran the ability to combat the epidemic through the purchase of necessary medical supplies overseas and the provision of a robust social safety net for the average Iranian facing economic catastrophe. -Tyler Cullis, Responsible Statecraft 3/19/20

Researchers at the respected Sharif University of Technology in Tehran have created a computer simulator to test different scenarios for the further spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, across Iran. They concluded that in a best-case scenario - in which the government quarantines all high-risk areas, people strictly obey quarantine rules, and access to sufficient medical supplies is guaranteed - the country would reach the peak of the epidemic in roughly one week, and the death toll would exceed 12,000. -Deutsche Welle 3/19/20

As the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak continues to rise in Iran, one of the world's most impacted countries, global pressure is mounting on the Trump administration to ease economic sanctions that Iranian officials and other critics charge has hampered the government's ability to manage the public health crisis. -Jessica Corbett, Common Dreams 3/19/20

As the deadly coronavirus continues to bedevil Iran, there is growing concern about the danger it poses to tens of thousands of victims of chemical weapons who suffer from respiratory problems and lung diseases. An estimated 100,000 Iranians survived chemical-weapons attacks by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, and many are disabled by chronic illnesses caused by exposure to mustard and nerve gas. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL 3/19/20

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus has reached 1,135, with 147 deaths over the past 24 hours -- the highest 24-hour rise yet -- state TV reported on March 18, as President Hassan Rohani defended his government's response to the outbreak. Iran has been the hardest-hit country in the Middle East, with a total of 16,169 confirmed cases, roughly 90 percent of the region's cases. 3/18/20

THE U.S. GOVERNMENT is run by sociopaths. How else to explain the Trump administration's callous disregard for the lives of ordinary Iranians in the midst of this global coronavirus crisis? How else to make sense of U.S. officials doubling down in their support for crippling economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic, despite the sheer scale of the suffering? -Mehdi Hasan, Intercept 3/18/20

More senior government figures have caught the coronavirus in Iran than anywhere else. Field hospitals have been erected in parking lots, stadiums and wedding halls to handle the overflow of patients. A top health official implored Iranians on Tuesday to avoid spreading the contagion by not traveling during the upcoming Persian New Year, saying anyone who ignored the advice was "inviting death." -Farnaz Fassihi, New York Times 3/18/20

Iranian state television has warned that the coronavirus outbreak could kill "millions" in the Islamic republic if the public keeps ignoring health measures as the death toll spiked to almost 1,000. The warning was broadcast on March 17 in the afternoon, after the Health Ministry said 135 more people had been killed by the new coronavirus over the past day, a 13 percent spike that pushed the death toll to 988. 3/17/20

Most critics of U.S. sanctions miss this fundamental point: U.S. sanctions are doing much more than preventing Iran from importing the medicine and medical goods that it may need to tackle the virus. U.S. sanctions are proving a prohibitive bar to Iran providing the basic goods and services necessary for their people to survive this catastrophic epidemic. -Tyler Cullis, Responsible Statecraft 3/17/20

Right now, Iran is experiencing perhaps the worst outbreak of the coronavirus outside of China in the world. Over 800 have died, with more than 14,000 confirmed cases in the country. This major outbreak was due to two factors: government negligence in responding to the threat, and crushing U.S. sanctions that have greatly harmed Iran's public health sector. -NIAC 3/17/20

Iran is ramping up production for various items needed to fight coronavirus as the government awards contracts to six biopharmaceutical companies for making highly-needed testing kits. A senior deputy to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that mass supply of coronavirus test kits will begin by several Iranian companies in the upcoming days. -Press TV 3/17/20

According to the latest reports on Monday, the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak, officially known as COVID-19, in Iran has risen to 853 with 14,991 confirmed cases. Iran's Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour made the announcement, saying that 1,053 more cases have tested positive in the past 24 hours, increasing the total number of infections in Iran to 14,991. The official also confirmed 4,996 recovered cases so far. 3/16/20

COVID-19 has killed a member of the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader, according to Iranian state media, the latest official in the country to die of the highly infectious disease caused by the new coronavirus. Ayatollah Hashem Bathayi Golpayegani, 78, died two days after testing positive for the new coronavirus and being hospitalised, state news agency IRNA reported on Monday. -Al Jazeera 3/16/20

Iran's Health Ministry says the country has screened more than 10 million people for the new coronavirus symptoms as it goes all out against the outbreak. Speaking on Sunday, Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raeisi said the screening had been carried out over a span of four days. "6.5 million individuals were screened at health centers, and 3.7 million others via the online platform," he said. -Press TV 3/16/20

President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed rumors that Iran is planning to put Tehran and other cities under quarantine amid the coronavirus outbreak. Rouhani also said after a meeting with members of the government economic bureau as well as representatives of the private sector that talks were underway with neighboring countries to facilitate cross-border trade. 3/15/20

For many Iranians, the new year's eve conjures up memories of holidays and traveling along dreamy beaches, silky warm seas, lush sceneries, and endless sunshine. Unlike any previous year, this year its travel market, both domestic and inbound, is taking a big hit over the peak season as coronavirus fears prompt people to stay home. 3/15/20

has used characters from Persian poet Ferdowsi's magnum opus, the Shahnameh, to make an animation series named "The Seven Adventures of Coronavirus". "Rustam and Zakariya against Corona", the first part of the seven-episode comedy series, was released on Saturday. 3/15/20

The coronavirus is fast spreading around the world and Iran is now one of the main epicenters of this pandemic. The dire situation has now compelled Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to send a letter to United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, asking for the immediate lifting of U.S. sanctions on Iran, saying they have made it virtually impossible for Iran to import medicine and medical equipment necessary to identify and treat coronavirus patients. -Negar Mortazavi, Responsible Statecraft 3/15/20

One day after Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei handed over Coronavirus control and prevention to the armed forces, General Mohammad Baqeri, Chief of the joint staff of the Iranian armed forces says his troops are planning to make sure that the people will leave roads and supermarkets in 24 hours. Baqeri was tasked on Thursday by Khamenei to set up a Health and Medical Treatment Headquarters and use military forces to combat the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19). 3/13/20

The Central Bank of Iran has asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for $5 billion emergency funding to fight a coronavirus pandemic as the number of infections keeps growing in the country. The epidemic has so far killed 429 people in Iran and infected 10,075. In an Instagram post on Thursday, Abdulnaser Hemmati, governor of the Central Bank, said he had written to the IMF's head, Kristalina Georgieva, last week to stress Iran's "right to benefit from the fund's $50-billion Rapid Financing Instrument (RFI)." 3/12/20

One week after judicial officials announced they had released tens of thousands of prisoners to prevent more coronavirus outbreaks, peaceful political prisoners in Mashhad's Vakilabad Prison are in limbo and remain untested for COVID-19 even as they exhibit symptoms, according to their relatives. One political prisoner's relative told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that her father was being kept in a ward with other inmates who officials "suspected" had coronavirus despite the prison clinic doctor recommending that he be released on furlough. 3/12/20

Iran's Revolutionary Guard affiliated Fars News Agency on March 21 published a list of senior officials and politicians who have tested positive or died from coronavirus (COVID-19). First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri is included among those who have tested positive and in isolation. 3/12/20

The deadly novel coronavirus epidemic will continue to expand in Iran at least until April 8, before it starts to ebb, the director of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), Ali Askari, has cited the Iranian Health Minister as saying. Speaking to the state-run TV's Channel one, Ali-Askari noted, "The Minister of Health told a session of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) that, if everything goes well, the novel coronavirus will reach its peak on April 8." 3/11/20

Calls have been growing for Iran's President Hassan Rohani to personally take charge of a crisis committee formed to manage the nationwide fight against a coronavirus epidemic that has gripped several provinces. In a statement addressed to President Rohani on Tuesday, a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) outlined a set of emergency measures that the government could take to promote its efforts to rein in COVID-19, as the novel coronavirus is called. The epidemic has so far killed 354 people in Iran and infected 9,000 others. Some 2,959 people have also recovered. 3/11/20

Tehran says the United States has blocked the entry of foodstuffs and medicine into Iran through its unlawful sanctions, but shamelessly denies doing so. Asked about the impact of US sanctions on Iran's fight against the virus, Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said, "The oppressive and illegal American sanctions, which [have been imposed on Iran] within the framework of the 'maximum pressure' campaign, have affected public welfare and health in Iran." -Press TV 3/11/20

Google has removed today an Android app from the official Play Store that was developed by the Iranian government to test and keep track of COVID-19 (coronavirus) infections. The app, which is named AC19, was released last week and was made available through a dedicated website, the official Play Store, and other third-party app stores. -ZDNet 3/11/20

Iran's health workers are on the front lines of the country's battle with the coronavirus, which according to official figures has claimed the lives of 291 Iranians and infected more than 8,000. But many of them lack protective wear to keep them safe while treating infected patients. The situation is said to be particularly dire for health-care workers in the northern province of Gilan, one of Iran's coronavirus epicenters, where at least five doctors and three nurses have died recently of the COVID-19 disease. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE/RL 3/10/20

Russia has provided Iran with tens of thousands of testing kits for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) as the Islamic Republic steps up the battle against the flu-like virus originating from China. On Tuesday, Iran confirmed 54 news deaths, the highest daily toll so far, raising the total fatality count to 291. A total of 8,042 infections have been diagnosed. And 2,731 patients have recovered, the Healthy Ministry said. 3/10/20

Spokesman of Iran's Health Ministry on Monday said 20 people who drank alcohol tainted with methanol (wood spirit) in Khuzestan Province have died of alcohol poisoning. So far coronavirus (COVID-19) has killed 18 in the southwestern province. According to Kianoush Jahanpour drinking alcoholic drinks containing methanol has poisoned at least 331 and killed 20 in the past 24 hours. 3/10/20

Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani has called on Muslim nations and other countries to take a stand against America's unilateral sanctions against Iran and push for the swift lifting of the restrictive measures, which are hampering the country's fight against a coronavirus outbreak. Larijani expressed dismay at the inhumane anti-Iran bans in letters addressed to the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, Secretary-General of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the head of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, and the speakers of the parliaments of Muslim and Asian states. -Press TV 3/10/20

Iranian authorities have released about 70,000 prisoners because of the new coronavirus outbreak in the country, judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi said, as Iran reported 43 new deaths from the disease in the past 24 hours. Iranian authorities have closed schools and universities, suspended major cultural and sporting events, and reduced working hours across the country to slow the contagion. 3/9/20

The chief of Iran's Crisis Management Organization is infected with coronavirus (COVID-19) and is now in self-seclusion after several days of treatment in hospita. Also, Mohammad Reza Rahchamani, a former Iranian MP, passed away on Monday of the coronavirus disease. Rahchamani, 64, died at the Masih Daneshvari Hospital. He was a reformist politician and represented Sabzevar in the Parliament from 1984 to 2000. 3/9/20

Iran's death toll from the coronavirus hit 145 on March 7 after another 21 people were confirmed to have died during the previous day, including a conservative lawmaker. In a televised briefing, a Health Ministry official said the tally of confirmed infections in Iran had increased by more than 1,000 during the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 5,823 by March 7. 3/7/20

Whether it is coronavirus or any other national crisis, Washington will not miss its chance to play politics with Tehran. Thus, Iranian leaders need to rebuild trust with their people and relax securitization of Iranian society if they want to thwart the Trump administration's well-organized information warfare against the country. -Younes Zangiabadi, Responsible Statecraft 3/7/20

Iran says the death toll from the new coronavirus has risen to 124 in the Islamic republic, including a former deputy foreign minister who reportedly died after being infected with the virus. Health Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpur said on March 6 that 17 people had died over the previous 24 hours, while more than 1,000 new cases were diagnosed as positive for the virus. 3/6/20

DESPITE A MASSIVE coronavirus-related public health crisis, an anti-Iran pressure group with close ties to the Trump administration is urging major pharmaceutical companies to "end their Iran business," focusing on companies with special licenses - most often under a broadly defined "humanitarian exemption" - to conduct trade with Iran. -Eli Clifton, Intercept 3/6/20

Iran's health ministry is taking the delivery of 14 new hospitals across the country amid a surge in coronavirus cases that has increased the need for treatment facilities. Iranian minister for Roads and Urban Development said on Wednesday that three out of the 14 new hospitals had already been handed over to the health ministry. 3/6/20

Iran has one of the very best health care systems in the Middle East, a decentralized system with thousands of medical centers across the country that provide primary, secondary and tertiary care with an effective referral system. We worked as doctors in that system for years. Yet at least 107 people in Iran have been killed by the new coronavirus, the largest number of deaths outside of China. -Kamiar Alaei and Arash Alaei, New York Times 3/6/20

Iran has closed all schools and adopted a series of other new measures as it battles the worst outbreak of coronavirus outside of China. Health Minister Saeed Namaki told a news conference on March 5 that all schools and universities will remain closed until the end of the Iranian calendar year on March 20, and that checkpoints will be used to limit travel between major cities. 3/5/20

An official of a university in the Iranian capital Tehran has said that the Ministry of Science has ordered universities to form committees to prevent suicides and "harmful behaviors" in all universities. Gholamreza Latifi, Student Affairs Deputy of Allameh Tabatabai University told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) on Wednesday that his university has already formed such a committee. 3/5/20

The novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19 has killed 92 people in Iran, said Health Ministry Spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour, adding that of the total 8,532 who have been so far tested for the virus, 2,922 were diagnosed with the new virus since its outbreak in the country, said Jahanpour. Provinces like Gilan, Qom, and Tehran are reporting a growing number of infections, he noted. 3/4/20

Iran will temporarily release 54,000 people from prisons and deploy hundreds of thousands of health workers as officials announced a slew of measures to contain the world's deadliest coronavirus outbreak outside China. Pressure has been mounting on Iranian officials to take action against the virus as the death toll and number of cases rapidly shoots up. -CNN 3/4/20

President Hassan Rouhani has rejected as insincere the United States' offer of help to Iran in the fight against the coronavirus epidemic, saying Washington should first lift its sanctions on medical supplies if it really seeks to help the Islamic Republic. "Our people know well that you are lying, that you are not telling the truth," Rouhani said addressing the United States, during a cabinet session in Tehran on Wednesday. -Press TV 3/4/20

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has urged Iranians to support the government in its battle against an outbreak of the coronavirus as the death toll rose to 77, the highest outside of China. "Don't violate the recommendations and instructions of the responsible authorities in terms of prevention, in terms of keeping hands, face, and living environment clean and not infecting these and preventing the infection of these," he said in a March 3 broadcast on state television. 3/3/20

The World Health Organization on Monday sent its first planeload of assistance to Iran to help fight coronavirus, dispatching six medics with tons of medical equipment and test kits aboard a UAE military aircraft. "Today's flight will carry 7.5 tons of medical equipment and supplies, primarily the critical items needed for infection prevention and control to support health care workers in Iran," said Robert Blanchard from the WHO in Dubai. -Iran Daily 3/3/20

Iranian-American model Megan Pormer, who made headlines after wearing a dress promoting peace between the US and Iran at the 2020 Grammys, is working with medical professionals and companies in Beverly Hills to send critical medicine and supplies to Iran. Over the past month, Iran has been ravaged by the coronavirus and the death toll continues to rise. -Clout 3/3/20

Latest coronavirus figures provided by Iran's Health Ministry put the number of deaths at 43. There is also a big spike of 205 in number of confirmed cases in the last 24 hours bringing the total to 593. According to Iranian officials, the cases are expected to peak in the next seven days. This has caused widespread concerns and worries in Iran as reflected in the coverage by the local media. 3/2/20

As the new coronavirus spreads in Iran, many people have struggled to find medicine -- an issue linked to sanctions reinstated by the United States in 2018 after it withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal. -AFP 3/2/20